About AHSRA

The Adventist Human Subject Researchers Association (AHSRA) was formally organized in the fall of 2013 with the sponsorship of the General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics and Research. The Association was developed during two conferences, the first at Andrews University in the spring of 2012 and the second at the General Conference in the fall of 2013.

PURPOSE

The objects of the Association are:

(a) to provide a meeting ground where human-subject researchers studying matters relating to Seventh-day Adventists are able to confer concerning all matters of common interest; and

(b) to provide assistance to the Church in accomplishing its mission in, for example, such human-subject research areas as spiritual needs of youth, impact of Adventist beliefs/practices on life quality/chances, strategies for discipling and retention, and strengthening Adventist families.

(c) to organize regular meetings of the association

(d) to provide a body of peer reviewers for major research initiatives that involve human subjects;

(e) to provide mentorship for less experienced researchers to become involved in well-planned publishable research endeavours;

(f) to provide opportunities for new collaborations which combine interests of association members which would allow for larger scale research projects;

(g) to provide professional development opportunities to its members

MEMBERSHIP

Members may be any individual who:

is or has been a researcher of human subjects (full member);

is a student who has an interest in research of human subjects (student member);

is interested in the results of research of human subjects (observer member).

It is expected the majority of the members will be in good and regular standing of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

CONFERENCES

In 2015, the Association co-sponsored a conference at Andrews University: the Andrews Research Conference: Early Career Researches in the Social Sciences. The Association is now planning the 2017 conference, which will be at Loma Linda University.

CURRENT OFFICERS

Current Officers of the Association are:

Duane McBride, President, Professor of Sociology and Chair, Behavioral Sciences Department, Andrews
University
René Drumm, Treasurer, Associate Dean of the College of Health, The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Campus

Mordekai Ongo, Office of Research and Creative Scholarship, Andrews University